Luke Wells

Monday, June 11, 2012

Chris Rogers (Middlesex) - We've said it before and doubtless we'll say it again but it's criminal that the Victorian has played just one Test. His 173 against Somerset at Lord's emphasised his classy batsmanship once again.

Joe Denly (Middlesex) - Rogers' accomplice in a 245 run stand for the 2nd wicket continued his renaissance since arriving from Kent - his record in the championship in 2012 is 557 runs at 61.88.

Nick Compton (Somerset) - The batsman of the season continued to shine with 275 minutes of defiance for 69 to prevent Middlesex from securing the victory their dominance deserved.

Luke Wells (Sussex) - Scored his second hundred of the season against Surrey to rescue his side from 87 for six and instead secure a winning position at Horsham.

Ravi Bopara (Essex) - Whilst Jonny Bairstow continued his struggles in the Test series against West Indies, Bopara put on a batting exhibition against Northants with 174 for his second ton of the week.

Liam Dawson (Hampshire) - Finally passed fifty for the first time in a disappointing season and promptly turned it into a fine unbeaten 134 not out against Kent.

James Foster (Essex) - Completed the 18th first-class hundred of his career in the rain-affected clash with Northants as he and Bopara added a mammoth 294 for the fifth wicket.

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) - Continued his impressive belated start to the season with seven wickets and 29 runs at Durham where a washout on the final day ruined what looked set to be a tremendous finish between the sides at the top and bottom of the table.

James Anyon (Sussex) - Fine all-round match at Horsham with four 1st innings wickets, a career-best 64 not out and then two of the final three Surrey 2nd innings wickets to fall as Sussex won in the final half hour.

Monty Panesar (Sussex) - Helped Anyon add 80 for the final wicket and then produced a high-class exhibition of spin bowling to send Surrey spiralling to defeat - his 2nd innings analysis was 32-21-33-3.

Tim Groenewald (Derbyshire) - Whilst Tony Palladino's hat-trick stole the headlines it was Groenewald's five for 29 that looked to have helped his table-topping side create a winning position against Leicestershire before the rain intervened.

Monday, April 09, 2012

Martin Guptill (Derbyshire) - With his side just 22 runs ahead on 1st innings, the New Zealander struck a brisk 137 to help set up a win and prove there is more to him than the safe pair of hands that probably helped end the Test career of Phil Hughes.

Billy Godleman (Essex) - Equalled his career best score with a patient 130 to put Essex in charge against a weak Gloucestershire side at Chelmsford.

Luke Wells (Sussex) - The 21 year old's fourth first-class hundred may have been in vain at The Oval, but Mark Ramprakash was so impressed that not only did he compare Wells to Alastair Cook, but added that Wells was "possibly better technically".

Riki Wessels (Nottinghamshire) - The budding web site entrepreneur showed he can bat a bit too by striking his first Championship hundred for Notts as his side recovered to beat Worcestershire after being bowled out on the opening day for 118. The extra publicity should do his flourishing business the world of good - perhaps Alan Sugar should consider donning the pads too?

Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire) - He may not be the finished article with the gloves, but his brilliant hundred at Headingley not only helped save Yorkshire against Kent but confirmed he is a real contender for the number six spot in England's Test side.

Tom Maynard (Surrey) - Revived Surrey's 1st innings with a brisk 86 not out and then added a crucial 136 with Rory Hamilton-Brown in the 2nd innings to give his side a decisive advantage. A good start to the season for one of our XI to watch.

Mat Coles (Kent) - Doesn't get in for his supposed strongest suit with the ball, but for his maiden first-class hundred from number nine at Headingley. His all-round aspirations appear to be well-founded.

David Wainwright (Derbyshire) - Starred in his first game since moving from Headingley by bowling his side to victory over Northants with figures of six for 33.

Vernon Philander (Somerset) - It was hardly surprising that the man who takes wickets for fun at Test level opened his Somerset account with a five wicket haul at Taunton. Ended up with match figures of seven for 81 from 38 overs.

Robbie Joesph (Leicestershire) - Took 12 wickets on his debut for the County as Leicestershire recovered from losing wickets to the first two balls of the match at Grace Road and equal the number of championship wins they managed in the entire season last year.

George Dockrell (Somerset) - Only appeared once last season, but an immaculate exhibition of spin bowling, which saw him take six for 27 in 20.1 overs and eight wickets in the match against Middlesex at Taunton means we will see much more of the talented Irishman in 2012.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

We should probably register our vested interest at this point, as Sussex is our county. Can they bring joy to the Reverse Sweep household come the end of the season?

Strengths

The batting has a a solid if unspectacular look to it with the ever-reliable Murray Goodwin ably supported by the liks of Chris Nash, Ed Joyce, captain Mike Yardy and last season's breakthrough player Luke Wells. The bowling relies heavily on Monty Panesar who got through 750 overs in the Championship in 2011. James Anyon and Amjad Khan provide the seam support.

Weaknesses

The squad lacks the depth of others especially in the bowling department and the loss of Luke Wright to the IPL and Panesar and Matt Prior to England could hit them hard. It's an important season for talented youngsters such as Joe Gatting and Will Beer, who will need to prove they can flourish at this level.

Main man

Murray Goodwin is to Sussex what Marcus Trescothick and Mark Ramprakash are to Somerset and Surrey respectively - a reliable source of runs and undisputed leader of the batting line-up. Sussex could need him to produce at least the 1372 Championship runs he delivered in 2011.

Look out for

The seagulls - there's plenty of those on offer at Sussex's Hove HQ.

Prediction

7th - It's hard to predict anything but a season of struggle, but our (probably jaundiced) view is that they will just have enough to keep their heads above water.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

With the County Championship on an enforced break thanks to the ‘delights’ of the domestic T20 competition, we thought it was a good opportunity for us to select the Reverse Sweep’s Division 1 XI of the season so far. Our Division 2 selection will follow tomorrow.

Varun Chopra (Warwickshire): 726 runs at 55.84 – A pair of double hundreds against Somerset and Worcestershire in his first two matches suggested a rebirth after a barren 2010. Whilst he has only recorded one half century in the Championship since, he has starred in the CB40 and has done just enough in our opinion to get the nod ahead of the Sussex pair Chris Nash and Ed Joyce.

Luke Wells (Sussex): 574 runs at 52.18 – The rookie has surpassed all expectations in his first full season at Hove. His maiden hundred helped Sussex chase down over 300 against Durham, his second secured a draw at the Rose Bowl and his third came after being promoted to open against Yorkshire. Clearly a huge talent.

Ben Stokes (Durham): 609 runs at 55.36, 17 wickets at 33.00 – Promise fulfilled from one of our ones to watch in 2011. The youngster looked a good prospect in 2010 but is now clearly an exceptional one. With the bat he has three hundreds at a strike rate of over 70 and nearly achieved cricketing immortality with five sixes in one Liam Dawson over in April. He has also improved dramatically with the ball and whilst he still goes for a few, has the happy knack of taking wickets. Just don’t call him the new Flintoff.

Dale Benkenstein (Durham): 855 runs at 77.72 – South Africa’s loss continues to be Durham’s gain. Like Trescothick, he has hit four championship tons and has been the model of consistency in what has been a prolific Durham batting line-up. The second highest run scorer in the country.

Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire): 749 runs at 68.09 - Has shone as much as Yorkshire have been dismal. After 58 first-class innings and 17 scores of 50 plus, Bairstow finally reached three figures against Notts and promptly turned his maiden ton into a double. Having removed the monkey from his back, he scored a second century at Taunton soon after. He still has some room for improvement with the gloves, but at this rate he will be good enough to play for England as a specialist batsman.

Ian Blackwell (Durham): 558 runs at 50.72, 19 wickets at 28.42 – The balance of this XI would be better with a leg-spinner such as Adil Rashid or Steve Borthwick, but it has proved impossible for us to ignore the larger than life Blackwell. He has the best strike rate of any batsman in Division 1 with over 300 runs (78.59) and the best economy rate of any bowler with more than seven wickets (a miserly 2.06 runs per over).

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire): 24 wickets at 18.54, 262 runs at 52.40 – He may have been laid low by spin splints, but Woakes did enough in his four matches to warrant selection. After starting with nine wickets and a hundred against pre-season favourites Somerset, Woakes continued to impress with bat and ball. His strike rate of a wicket every 36 balls is the best of those that have bowled over 60 overs.

Steve Kirby (Somerset): 31 wickets at 25.00 – One of the ultimate unsung heroes, Kirby has held together what is a fairly ramshackle and pedestrian Somerset bowling attack to take a steady flow of wickets even on Taunton’s batting paradise. Second to only Gary Keedy as Division 1’s leading wicket taker.

Gary Keedy (Lancashire): 34 wickets at 22.35 – Talking of unsung heroes, Keedy has been Lancashire’s undoubted star in their impressive first half of the season. Has enjoyed bowling at Aigburth, no more so when picking up ten wickets in the Roses match when he had staggering match figures of 77.3-14-177-10. Keedy has been the best spinner in the country to date ahead of supposed bigger names like Panesar and Rashid.

Friday, June 03, 2011

Joe Denly (Kent) – Ended a nightmare run of just 82 runs from eight Championship innings in 2011 to record his first hundred since 2009. Added 74 for good measure in the 2nd innings to help Kent to their first win in Division 2 since the season opener against Essex.

Luke Wells (Sussex) – Promoted to open in the absence of Ed Joyce and proceeded to rack up 174 – the third ton of his rookie Championship season – as part of a 304 run partnership with Goodwin.

Moeen Ali (Worcestershire) – Rob White can count himself unlucky, but Ali's crucial role in his side’s first Division 1 win since 2007 and their first at New Road since 2004 gets him the nod. He top-scored in the 1st innings with 84 and then finished off the run chase with an unbeaten 35 off just 25 balls.

Murray Goodwin (Sussex) – His 274 against Yorkshire was the eighth time in 11 years with Sussex that Goodwin has registered a double hundred.

Ben Stokes (Durham) – First the ecstasy as a career best 185 – his third ton of the season – helped Durham leapfrog Lancashire at the top of Division 1. Then the agony, as a badly dislocated finger puts him out of action for six to eight weeks - robbing Stokes of a possible call-up to the England ODI squad against Sri Lanka. One of our ten to watch in 2011.

Gary Ballance (Yorkshire) – Earns a place in the XI ahead of Dale Benkenstein after his four-hour vigil for 73 not out saved Yorkshire’s bacon on the final day at Hove.

Chris Read (Nottinghamshire) – Once again played a crucial innings when it was most needed to seemingly put Notts in the driving seat at New Road. Alas for Read, on this occasion (unlike against Yorkshire earlier in the season) his unbeaten 120 proved not to be enough for the faltering holders.

Chaminda Vaas (Northamptonshire) – Showed Sri Lanka just what they are missing with a brilliant bowling display in the Division 2 summit meeting with Glamorgan. His ten for 82 simply blew the Welshmen away.

Tim Linley (Surrey) – Surrey may have been without Tremlett, Meaker and (for half of the match Dernbach), but Linley ensured they weren’t missed with ten for 107 in an excellent win at Derby.

Monty Panesar (Sussex) – Just shades Ian Blackwell for a spot in the XI for his sustained excellence against Yorkshire. Monty’s figures in the match 63.3-20-148-7 ensured he easily won the spin duel with Rashid, even if they weren't quite enough to get Sussex over the winning line.

Matt Dunn (Surrey) – Pitched into his first Championship outing when Dernbach received a call from England half-way through the game, the 19 year old didn’t let anyone down. On the contrary, he proved to be a match-winning super-sub with five for 56 to help bowl out Derbyshire for just 99.

Monday, May 09, 2011

Yet again our County Championship XI of the week features a number of promising youngsters, suggesting the England cricket side looks set to be in rude health for some time yet; and Amen to that:

Joe Root (Yorkshire) – The 20 year old continues to impress even if he failed by just five runs to record his maiden first-class hundred against the reigning county champions at Trent Bridge.

Luke Wells (Sussex) – His maiden first-class ton helped Sussex chase down 308 to beat Durham and now his second just two weeks later secured a draw at the Rose Bowl.

Mark Ramprakash (Surrey) – Looked like he’d never been away with 37 and 91 on an Oval green top. Even at 41, his powers show no sign of dimming.

Chris Taylor (Gloucestershire) – Scored 117 and 60 to help end Middlesex’s 100% start to the season in a draw at Bristol.

Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire) – After 58 first-class innings including 17 scores of 50 plus, 21 year old Bairstow finally reached three figures at Trent Bridge and promptly turned his maiden ton into a double.

James Vince (Hampshire) – The 20 year old Michael Vaughan clone registered a stylish second career ton against Sussex at the Rose Bowl.

Craig Kieswetter (Somerset) – After a poor domestic season in 2010, Kieswetter continued his resurgence with 117 on an untypically testing Taunton pitch to set up victory over Worcestershire.

Stuart Meaker (Surrey) – Took eight wickets in the match as Surrey’s pace battery proved too much for Leicestershire at The Oval.

Gemaal Hussain (Somerset) – Finally repaid some of the faith shown by his new county for securing his services over the winter by taking a career best six for 33 to propel Somerset to victory over Worcestershire.

Simon Kerrigan (Lancashire) – Made excellent use of a poor Edgbaston pitch to take seven wickets in the match including five for seven in the 2nd innings as the slow left-armer made a bang on his first Championship appearance of the summer.

Jade Dernbach (Surrey) – Surrey’s gamble to prepare (or should that be underprepare?) a green Oval deck paid off as one of our ten to watch in 2011 took seven wickets in the match to spearhead his side to the win that lifted them off the bottom of the table.

Perhaps not unsurprisingly, trying to whittle down the top performers to an XI is an arduous task to say the least. We could find no place for Zander de Bruyn despite his 172 against Glamorgan, nor Tom Maynard who served his revenge cold against his former county with 123 in the same match.

Spare a thought too for Tony Palladino, whose nine wickets and 44 unbeaten runs from number 11 proved in vain against Middlesex. Gary Keedy and Farveez Maharoof also miss out despite starring for Lancashire in their innings win over Somerset.

Here without further ado is our XI for this week:

Varun Chopra (Warwickshire) – from 409 runs in the whole Championship season in 2010 to a sublime 471 in just two matches this season. A second successive double hundred turned the match around at New Road for Warwickshire. A talent that is finally flourishing.

Alastair Cook (Essex) – the tormentor of the Australians got his season off and running with 155 against Northants - an innings described by Derek Pringle as clean and exhilirating. More of the same against Sri Lanka and India please.

Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire) – One of our 10 to watch in 2011 ploughed a lone furrow in the 1st innings at Headingley with a magificent 85 (off just 89 balls) in a sorry Notts total of 143, and then repeated the dose with 83 (off 112) second time around to help stun Yorkshire.

Luke Wells (Sussex) – maiden first-class hundred from the 20 year old was the solid backbone of Sussex's impressive chase of 309 to beat Durham (despite a late scare) at Chester-le-Street.

Andrew Gale (Yorkshire) – looked to have secured Yorkshire's complete supremacy against Notts with a brilliant 145 not out. Alas a 193 run 1st innings lead did not prove enough.

Chris Read (Nottinghamshire) – How many times has Read scored runs when Notts were in dire straits? His 86 and partnership of 150 with Steven Mullaney gave his side something to bowl at and led to a stunning comeback win against Yorkshire.

Gareth Berg (Middlesex) – six wickets and a match-winning knock of 80 as Middlesex chased down 328 at Derby

Chaminda Vaas (Northamptonshire) – five for 76 in a first innings of 433 and then hit 96 as Northants wrested back the initiative against Essex at Wantage Road.

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) – a crucial first-innings 47 gave his side at least a few runs to play with before a brilliant performance with the ball saw his six second innings wickets condemn unlucky Worcestershire to defeat at New Road.

Ryan Sidebottom (Yorkshire) - couldn't have done much more to secure a win over his former county with match figures of eight for 97 against Nottinghamshire. Getting into this XI is unlikely to prove much consolation.

Monty Panesar (Sussex) – seven wickets for 144 in 44 controlled overs helped Sussex back into the match twice at Chester-le-Street. Any spinner who takes four wickets on day one of a Championship match at Durham in April deserves automatic selection.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Despite competition from the IPL, a severe financial crisis and having most of its matches shunted from mid-summer in favour of an over-elongated Twenty 20 competition, the latest round of County Championship games showed that reports of its imminent death have been greatly exaggerated.

As county aficionados who have had the good fortune to witness events will concur, the matches that finished on Friday or Saturday threw up a number of classics to emphasise just why first-class cricket will always surpass its impatient limited overs cousins.

Terrific turnarounds

Reigning champions Nottinghamshire (193 runs behind), Sussex (98) and Warwickshire (174) all faced big 1st innings deficits but all came back to win.

Thrilling run chases

Sussex (309) and Middlesex (328) both thrillingly chased down 300+ victory targets against Durham and Derbyshire respectively in topsy-turvy games at Chester-le-Street and Derby.

Shocks

Pre-season Division 1 favourites Somerset were on the receiving end of a second successive innings defeat, this time against Lancashire at Liverpool. Unpredictability is another facet of the County Championship – can you imagine Manchester United losing their first two games of the season heavily?

God loves County Cricket

Despite the ridiculously early start to the season, the Gods have been kind with the weather - for instance whilst the South of France (and we should know) experienced a deluge yesterday, the sun shone on England's green and pleasant cricket fields.

New stars

Wherever you looked, young players are really making their mark. A second successive double hundred from Varun Chopra and six wickets from Chris Woakes saw Warwickshire turn the tables on Worcestershire. 20 year old Luke Wells scored a maiden first-class hundred in Sussex’ssuccessful run chase and the likes of Alex Hales, Nathan Buck, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid and seventeen year old Reece Topley have also starred so far this season. The future does indeed look bright for England.

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